Good morning Daming

Chapter 1020 Choice
There is heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Add to that the fireworks in Yangzhou in March, and the charm of the entire Jiangnan region seems to be concentrated in these places.

“The best time to visit Hangzhou is in spring, when the weather gets hotter and it becomes boring.”

Xu Wei wore a bamboo hat and sighed, "I once passed by Hangzhou and saw many tourists on the Su Causeway. I think it should be the same now!"

Jiang Qingzhi looked out over Hangzhou from his horseback and said, "You're overthinking. There won't be many people on the Su Causeway right now."

In the previous life, if we had avoided the peak tourist season, there wouldn’t be many people on Su Causeway.

At that time, Jiang Qingzhi wanted to travel around the world, but he had been fighting with the Eagle Sauce people in South America for a long time and had already been put on the other side's kill list. So he had to travel around China.

He had been to Hangzhou twice in his previous life. The first time he got off the car, he went straight to West Lake.

What excitement and anticipation!
How beautiful West Lake is!

Countless poems echoed in his mind.

When he saw West Lake for the first time, Jiang Qingzhi was disappointed.

That's it?

West Lake is beautiful, what makes it beautiful?

Jiang Qingzhi didn't know, he thought West Lake was mediocre.

It is suitable for a leisurely stroll to digest food, or for a weekend picnic.

If you say you came here specifically for tourism...to be honest, it doesn't make much sense.

In Jiang Qingzhi's opinion, it is not as good as Lingyin Temple.

But West Lake is very famous!
What's more, it's free of charge. This open and spacious atmosphere is much better than many places with walls blocking the view.

So he went again a second time.

This time he was in a calm state of mind and just treated it as a leisurely stroll. He actually thought this place was nice.

"Lingyin Temple is very popular. In addition, the vegetarian food in Tianzhujiao Temple is good." Jiang Qingzhi thought of the Faxi Temple in later generations. It was not big and seemed particularly quiet compared with the crowded Lingyin Temple.

The name of Faxi Temple at that time was Tianzhu Jiao Temple, and later Emperor Kangxi gave it the name Faxi Temple.

"Young Master, when are we going to try it?" Sun Chonglou asked expectantly.

"Let's take a look first!" Jiang Qingzhi saw the city gate and the officials outside the city.

As he got closer, he dismounted and walked over.

Lin Xi led the way, leading more than a dozen officials forward. The rest stayed where they were, not because they were disrespectful, but because they were unqualified.

The officialdom has a strict hierarchy, and a half-level difference means a half-level difference. You can only watch your superiors chatting and laughing, while you yourself have to act respectful and smile.

"I am Lin Xi, and I am honored to meet Lord Chang Wei." Lin Xi smiled and bowed, "I am very happy to hear that Lord Chang Wei is heading south."

Lin Xi sighed, "The last time Chang Wei Bo came to Zhejiang, he swept away the evil spirits along the coast, and Zhejiang was peaceful for several years. Now the Japanese pirates have made a comeback, and the coast is in turmoil. I am extremely worried. Not long ago, I submitted a memorial to the court, begging the court to allow Chang Wei Bo to go south again to eliminate this great harm for the people of Zhejiang. I didn't expect that the heaven would grant my wish. How can I not be happy?"

Tsk!
Hearing this, Zhou Wang couldn't help but feel a little toothache.

This compliment secretly praised Jiang Qingzhi as the great savior of Zhejiang. The key point is that with this statement as the basis, the responsibility of Zhejiang officials was quietly relieved of most of their responsibilities.

——It's not that we are incompetent, but that the Japanese pirates are too fierce. I, Lin Xi, looked around and thought, damn, in this great Ming Dynasty, only Chang Wei Bo has the ability to turn the tide and save the people of Zhejiang.

This flattery has taken dozens of turns, and when you come to appreciate it, you can't help but feel tipsy and dizzy.

As expected, the officialdom is the place where people are most experienced... Jiang Qingzhi thought of Hu Zongxian's analysis before going south.

——Lin Xi was upright and honest when he started his career, and he did not like to please others, so it was difficult for him to be promoted. After several ups and downs, he became much more smooth. Although he could not be said to be good at dancing with long sleeves, he could calmly deal with several forces.

Lin Xi glanced at Zhou Wang.

As the provincial governor, Zhou Wanggai informed Jiang Qingzhi of the recent public sentiment in Zhejiang from the perspective of civil affairs.

But he is a general of the Yan Party!

It cannot be said that there is a clear distinction between General Yan's party and Jiang Qingzhi, but we cannot flatter each other.

Zhou Wang stepped forward and bowed, "I am Zhou Wang, honored to meet Chief Wei Bo."

That's it.

When the Japanese pirates revived, someone recommended Zhou Wang. Yan Song and his son considered it and let Zhou Wang come to Zhejiang to serve as the governor.

The original plan of Yan Song and his son was to wait for Lin Xi to leave Zhejiang, and then let Zhou Wang take over the position of governor and firmly control Zhejiang.

Historically, the Yan Party had a very tight control over Zhejiang, and the selection of the people to coordinate the anti-Japanese war was also decided by Yan Song and his son. For example, Hu Zongxian relied on bribing Zhao Wenhua to take the position and take charge of the anti-Japanese war.

But what was unexpected was that Lin Xi refused to move.

At that time, Xu Jie had not yet become a rat on the street. Yan Song had colluded with him, intending to find another place for Lin Xi.

Xu Jie just wanted to make a deal with Yan Song, so he nodded and agreed.

But Lin Xi was not happy.

He had not been in Zhejiang for long and had not achieved any political achievements before he moved to another place. This was of no benefit to his future career.

From then on, whenever he wanted to be promoted, his superiors would look at his resume and wonder why he had only been in Zhejiang for a short time.

Officials must serve their entire term in a place if nothing unexpected happens. Otherwise, if you leave right after arriving, without even understanding the local situation, let alone governing or achieving political achievements, what is the point of having you here?

Come to Daoshui, plated with gold?

Therefore, officials must serve a full term, this is the rule.

Lin Xi absolutely refused to do it, even though Xu Jie wrote to him personally and promised to get him to one of the six ministries in the capital within three years after the transfer.

When the governor returns to Beijing to take up a post, if he is promoted to one of the six ministries, he must be a minister.

Otherwise, it would be better to be a governor and a boss in a local area.

But under the suppression of the Yan Party, Xu Jie had no ability to hold such an important position as Shangshu.

I would rather have a chicken head than a phoenix tail!

Lin Xi refused to accept it, and Xu Jie had no choice, so the matter ended up in nothing.

Just when the Yan Party was preparing to deal with this disobedient fool, Jiang Qingzhi went south.
The old prime minister and the young cabinet minister thought that getting rid of Lin Xi at this time would be a lot of trouble. First, Jiang Qingzhi went south and had the right to make suggestions on the selection of the governor of Zhejiang. Once he spoke, Jiang's people would not sit idly by.

Even if he made an exchange with Jiang's faction and let Zhou Wang take the position, Jiang Qingzhi was born in the year of the dog, and he might swallow Zhou Wang, the monkey, in one mouthful.

This way, you end up losing the rice while trying to steal the chicken!

So this matter was put on hold for the time being.

Lin Xi sensed the crisis and communicated with the capital, trying to find a new backer.

But there were only three prime ministers in the court. The Yan Party wanted to get rid of him, Xu Jie became a stinking dog shit, and Jiang Qingzhi was the public enemy of the literati... For a while, Lin Xi was helpless.

Just when he was in a state of panic, Jiang Qingzhi's thundering attack in Songjiang Prefecture gave him some other ideas.

If he does not act now, once Jiang Qingzhi has made some trouble in Zhejiang and leaves, the Yan Party will certainly take ruthless action against him to make room for Zhou Wang.

The only people in the capital who could help him were a few close ministers of Emperor Jiajing.

Needless to say, Zhu Xizhong was a close friend of Jiang Qingzhi and the leader of the Jiang faction in the capital and the north after Jiang Qingzhi left. It would be difficult to borrow his power!

There is also the old consort Cui Yuan, but it is said that he has not been in good health recently and he may not have a say in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing.

In the end, only Lu Bing was left.

Join Lu Bing?

Lin Xi had thought about this idea, but ultimately shelved this option.

He is the emperor's lackey. If I take refuge with him, what will happen?
A hawk's hawk?
Lin Xi still has his pride, so he put this option aside for last and would not consider it until absolutely necessary.

Seeing Zhou Wang's indifferent expression at this moment, it was obvious that he wanted to keep a distance from Jiang Qingzhi, but he did not dare to offend this person.

That thought became more and more active.

Jiang Qingzhi said, "I went south this time for two reasons."

Everyone pricked up their ears.

Zhejiang summarized Jiang Qingzhi's trip to the south and concluded that he did two things: cleansed up Songjiang Prefecture and rectified Nanjing.

It was Lin Xi who said to use cleansing instead of bloodbath. Do the Japanese pirates deserve your sympathy?

Yes, the people Jiang Qingzhi killed the most in Songjiang Prefecture were the Japanese pirates, followed by the local tyrants who colluded with the Japanese pirates.

If you say that he massacred Songjiang Prefecture, does that mean the Japanese pirates were from Songjiang Prefecture?

Zhou Wang and Lin Xi stood side by side, and now it depended on how Jiang Qingzhi would decide.

When everyone heard what his purpose was in Zhejiang, the first thing that came to their mind was purge.

This is Zhejiang, a Confucian stronghold with strong local power. Jiang Qingzhi must find a comrade-in-arms.

It’s Lin Xi!
Or Zhou Wang?

As for the others, they are not qualified to step onto this stage at the moment.

Although Zhou Wang was not a drag in choosing Lin Xi, his lack of cooperation was enough to make Jiang Qingzhi suffer.

Zhou Wang was in charge of civil affairs, so Jiang Qingzhi had to go through him if he wanted to implement the new policy in Zhejiang.

After a brief honeymoon period during the Northern Expedition, Jiang Qingzhi and the old prime minister quickly became rivals.

Since the Chiang faction is in charge of the new policy, they will inevitably demand power, which is not subject to Chiang Ching-chih's personal will.

Therefore, once Jiang Qingzhi chose Zhou Wang as his ally, he had to give corresponding benefits in exchange.

Commander Mao Shunchang had been watching coldly. As the person in charge of Zhejiang's military, he felt very uncomfortable being caught between Lin Xi and Zhou Wang, like a rat in a bellows, being bullied from both sides.

The Ming Dynasty controlled the military with culture, and Mao Shunchang could not afford to offend either of these two big guys, so he had to learn from a man named Yan in later generations who could dance on three eggs.

He felt that Jiang Qingzhi would choose Zhou Wang for a simple reason. The Yan Party was powerful in Zhejiang. If Jiang Qingzhi did not want to cause trouble for his trip, the best choice would be to bow his head.

Choose to cooperate with the strict party.

In politics, there are no eternal enemies or friends, only eternal interests.

During the Northern Expedition, Jiang Qingzhi and Yan Song were close friends, but after returning to Beijing, they became enemies.

The most fickle woman would probably sigh when seeing this kind of relationship change: Men! They are all eels.

Zhou Wang was thinking of this, so he greeted Jiang Qingzhi with dignity.

If you want to cooperate with me, Zhou Wang, then you should be more proactive.

He was looking forward to... Yan Song sent someone to rush south and tell Zhou Wang that if Jiang Qingzhi came to Zhejiang, he should not resist.

But don't try to help out.

If Jiang Qingzhi is willing to cooperate, let him come and talk to me.

Zhou Wang thought that the old minister was Jiang Taigong, who was fishing with an empty hook by the Wei River, waiting for anyone who wanted to take the bait.

Jiang Qingzhi's eyes turned.

Lin Xi glanced at him and couldn't help feeling desolate... If he had a backer, this matter would have been settled with him long before Jiang Qingzhi went south.

That's it!

No, just go to some remote place to hide away!

Jiang Qingzhi took out the medicinal cigarettes and said, "I heard that the vegetarian food at the Tianzhu Temple is good, Governor Lin."

"Long Wilbur!" Lin Xi looked up subconsciously.

"Are you interested in going with Uncle Ben to try it?"

Jiang Qingzhi lit up the incense and asked calmly.

Lin Xi suppressed his ecstasy and said, "Of course I am willing."

Mao Shunchang glanced at Zhou Wang, the governor's face now livid.

(End of this chapter)